A Different Way to Leave Privet Drive
by Dimcairien
Summary: This is a what-if type of story. What if Harry noticed someone spying on him soon after returning to Privet Drive. Harry, being who he is assumes this person is dangerous and attacks. What happens and who did he really attack? Rating for one bad word. One-shot.


_**A/N: This is a rather random idea I got from sherza on Point Given's forum. I got an idea for a short story and here's the result. This is simply a different way for Harry to get from Privet Drive to Grimmlaud Place in the summer of 1995.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and the muse comes from sherza.**_

Another long, boring, hot, silent, summer day was drawing to an end and Harry Potter was bored. Of course, that was perfectly normal for him as he lived in one of the most exciting and oftentimes dangerous places in the wizarding world, Hogwarts. He hated summer, especially because it involved living with his so called relatives, the Dursleys. They might be blood related to him, but Harry knew that he had never been considered family to them and he gladly returned the favour.

As he sat on the front curb, staring across the street, he caught a glimpse of a slight movement. It was only the briefest glimpse of a trainer-clad foot, but Harry knew he wasn't seeing things.

He slowly stood up and pulled his wand out of his pocket, standing at alert. Nothing happened for several minutes, but then he saw that brief glimpse of the foot again and he knew someone was there.

Harry continued to stand there, silently, observing the movements (or at least what he deduced to be the movements) of whoever or whatever was across the street from him. He had been surprised at how quiet the summer had been, especially as Voldemort had just re-risen to power. Harry had been expecting an attack for the past several weeks and now it seemed it was finally about to happen.

"Take the offensive if possible," he muttered, knowing that he would have surprise to his advantage as whoever was over there wouldn't be expecting him to notice that something was amiss. Luckily, Harry had taken his Invisibility Cloak out with him today. Every so often he liked to put it on and sneak up behind Dudley. He never did anything, but it always scared his cousin. Now though, he was very thankful as it would enable him to sneak up on this person, it had to be a wizard, and he was ninety per cent sure that this wizard was also a Death Eater.

"Perhaps Fudge will believe that Voldemort's back if I am attacked by one of his followers," he thought, knowing that Fudge had dismissed all of his accusations about the Death Eaters.

Very quietly, so as not to make noise, he crossed the street. Once on the other side, he stopped and listened. He could barely here it, but the sound of a trainer scrapping against the concrete was a certainty. He thought that he knew where the person was, but he wanted to wait a few more moments, just in case he could get a definite location. He didn't have to wait too long though as he heard a slight stumble. Then, knowing that the invisible wizard had just tripped over a crack in the pavement, he let loose a spell. "_Stupefy_!" he cried. There was a thud, and he knew he had hit the wizard.

"Underage Sorcery be dammed," he muttered as he knew a letter would probably be arriving within the next quarter-of-an-hour. "I probably just saved my life." He walked over to where the body lay and reached down. He felt the familiar fabric of an Invisibility Cloak and he quickly pulled it off. The wizard who lay there was not who he had expected to see.

First off, it was a witch, not a wizard and she had the strangest hair Harry had ever seen. Half of it was pink and the other half purple, though all of the hair was spikey. Harry stared at the witch for several seconds before realizing that she couldn't be a Death Eater. As far as he knew, there weren't any female Death Eaters, but he never could be certain. After his last year, he could never be certain of the identity of a person.

Harry knew that once she awoke she'd have the upper hand as she was an adult, so before reviving her, he cast the leg locker hex and took her wand. He then bent down and murmured, "_Rennervate_."

The witches eyes fluttered open and she looked around in horror for several seconds before her eyes rested on Harry. She immediately relaxed, but Harry refused to do so.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked sharply.

"Wotcher, Harry, I'm Tonks," said the witch. "Would you mind releasing me."

"Not until you tell me why you were spying on me!" Harry said. He figured he probably sounded angry, but he wanted to frighten this witch who had been spying on him.

"Look, Harry," said Tonks somewhat nervously, "this sounds crazy, but I'm supposed to be here to keep an eye one you."

"I don't need looking after," said Harry curtly. When he had needed people to look after him, they hadn't, and for years now he didn't need people looking after him at all. "And even if you were looking after me, why were you under an Invisibility Cloak?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that," Tonks began, but stopped when she saw the look on Harry's face. "Uh, Dumbledore's orders," she said quickly. "He wanted some of us to be keeping an eye out for you just in case any Death Eaters happened to sneak over and attack you."

Harry fell back on his heals slightly. It certainly was a convincing argument, but was it true?

"Harry, it sounds crazy, I know," continued Tonks. "But it's the truth. I didn't want to have to keep it a secret, but you know the Headmaster. He's firm when he sets his mind to something and it was a good idea to have people here, but I do think it would've been better to let you know. No matter, you know now."

Harry eyed Tonks thoughtfully. She looked worried, and even a little frightened, but he had finally come to the conclusion that she was telling the truth. Everything made sense, but he too agreed with her about the secrecy. The past two weeks had been hell for him and he'd've loved to know that someone cared about him.

"Will you let me go now?" Tonks asked again.

"Uh, yeah," said Harry, "but you should probably do it yourself. I'm in enough trouble as it is with breaking the Decree of Underage Sorcery." As he said this, he handed Tonks her and a moment later, Tonks was scrambling to her feet.

"So how'd you find me?" she asked. "I thought I had covered myself well."

"Except for one shoe, I saw it twice," said Harry. "I then heard your shoes on the pavement and finally, heard you trip."

"I knew I had forgotten to put a silencing spell on my trainers," muttered Tonks. "Oh well, what happened, happened. Now, I think we should get you away before that letter comes."

Tonks picked up the Invisibility Cloak Harry had taken off of her. "Come on, let's grab your trunk and get out of here. I can tell that being here isn't good for your nerves, especially if you mistake me for a Death Eater."

Harry couldn't help but grin as Tonks said that they should leave, so he eagerly followed her back to the house. The Dursleys were gone and the house locked up, but that didn't stop Tonks. Before Harry had really understood what was going on, they were in his room and with a flick of her wand, Tonks got nearly everything into his trunk. It was a lot messier than Harry normally packed it, but it certainly got packed much faster.

"Okay then, got everything?" Tonks asked. She then saw the broom and her mouth dropped open. "Is that a Firebolt?" she asked in awe. "I've only got a Comet Two-Sixty."

"Yeah, it's a Firebolt," said Harry. "Now can we go before that owl finds us?"

"Sure," said Tonks. And grabbing Harry and his trunk, she Apparated them away and soon Harry found himself in the middle of London. "Wait here," said Tonks. "Oh, and put the cloak on. I'll be back in a moment." She hurried towards a row of buildings and suddenly disappeared. Harry stared in confusion, wondering if something was wrong with his eyes, but Tonks soon came back with a piece of paper. "Read this, and you'll understand," she said.

Harry nodded as he took the scrap of paper and looked at the familiar handwriting. "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is found at Number Twelve, Grimmlaud Place." He looked at it, then looked up at Tonks in confusion.

"Think about it," she said and Harry did. Then he blinked for a house had just appeared between two others.

"Welcome Harry, to Headquarters," said Tonks. "I hope no one murders me for bringing you here earlier, but like I said, you're a bit too tense for the Muggle world."

Slowly the two of them entered the house and the door shut behind them.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Dursley residence, Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley came home to find their sitting room full of owls each with a letter. There were several red envelopes that were shouting. No one could make out anything except for a few words such as "HARRY JAMES POTTER", "SUCH AN IDIOT", "EXPULSION", and "DUMBLEDORE".

Vernon thundered up the stairs, jerked open Harry's door, and upon finding it empty shouted. "BOY!"

* * *

Far away in London, Harry had a feeling that someone was very angry with him, but he was safe (well, maybe not safe safe) in his godfather's house and was watching in amusement as Tonks told the tale of their meeting to Remus and Sirius.


End file.
